The Last S Class of Quality

The last Mercedes Benz S Class that had real quality was the 1991 models
before the 140 series which were plagued with defects. The 1991 and
earlier ones of the same series were well built with electronics that

were not so complicated. Emphasis then changed and I really have no
desire for the newer Mercedes . You dare not keep one past the warranty.
Al

Agree with your point about their electronics and personally like the
style BUT these are gas hogs and new cars offer dual stage airbags, side
and side curtain airbags etc. New cars are bought for good reasons.
Now if we could get all the new stuff in a c. 1990 S class body.....

Agree with your point about their electronics and personally like the style
BUT these are gas hogs
___________________________________________
My 1986 560 SEL with 140K miles get 20 mpg as long as you stay under 75 mph.
That is with regular unleaded gas purchased in the state of Washington. The
same car only gets only 17 mpg using gas purchased in California as the CA
gas has an entirely different blend.
I don't consider a 1986 model luxury car that gets 20 mpg on regular gas
to be a gas hog.

I have been running my '86 560 SEL since new with regular unleaded and have
had no problems. Car now has 146K miles....gets 19 mpg on highway, runs
great. Car is driven carefully, no hard acceleration or speeds over 90 mph.
No knocking, no pinging, no problem..
____________________________________________

I suspect it would run MUCH NICER and get better mileage with the
correct octane gas. My dad ran his (now mine) 1989 300E on regular,
and it ran fine. But, one I got it, and started running it on the
correct gas, it runs smoother and gets at least 3mpg better in both
city and highway. He was just being cheap, but what is an extra 20
cents, really? This car now has over 248,000 miles, and it will only
get quality premium.
Rockman59 wrote:

The consumers demand and competitors force Mercedes-Benz to be one or
few steps ahead in the technology. We ought to credit Mercedes-Benz for
its technological innovations that are found in more and more
competitors's vehicles as well as taking risk in introducing the new
electronic technology. A side turn signal repeaters integrating into
the external rear-view mirrors, the signature automatic gearbox selector
template, electronic ABS (yes, the mechanical ABS existed in the late
1960s on certain American cars), diesel motor for passenger car (260D),
fuel injection for passenger car (300SL), dual-pane side windows (BMW
beat to Mercedes-Benz by a few weeks by introducing that feature at the
car show), ad infinitim.
Sometimes taking risk bode ill-feeling amongst the consumers, yet
Mercedes-Benz, unlike GM and Ford, is addressing them and recalling the
vehicles to sort the issues.
Al schrieb:

But the OP said "real quality".
We may argue about that but to me it implies that the quality has gone down
since then, it being 'unreal'.
Not so, young man?
I may not agree with the OP's opinion (or even disagree) as I don't have
enough detail about the S-Class, but I understand his point....
blah...blahhh...blahhhh.
DAS
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

As owner of a 1991 560 SEL since new and a 1995 S 320 since new I can
tell you there is a difference in quality of parts with the 1991 being
superior.
The plastic supports for the windows, the evaporator core, the wiring
harness were all prone to failure in the 1992-1995 S class the last the
being very costly . The core was in warranty (thank goodness ).
Even the center A/C vents failed on the 1995 ( cost to replace about
$350 ) thank goodness for super glue. Even the feel of the switches is
Mercedes in character i n the 1991. New Orleans has had a large number
of Mercedes for many years before the deluge of "cheap" models. You
rarely see a 140 series anymore - guess why. I really dare to think of
the cost of maintaining a current S class out of warranty. The 1992
S 320 gets fantastic gas mileage (30 mpg) on the road at about 70.
That six cylinder is probably mercedes best engine and I have always
thought it probably costs more to build than the V8.
Al
Martin Joseph wrote:

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